In recent years, meteorological information has become increasingly important. Weather information is collected almost instantaneously from numerous sources. For example, weather information can be collected from a multitude of individual sites scattered across the world (for example, airports), various types of weather radar, and various types of weather information collected from satellites.
Typically, this information is used to generate forecasts and to provide up-to-date weather maps. For example, television meteorologists generate simple two-dimensional maps that show high and low pressure zones, various temperatures and other miscellaneous weather-related information. Information from weather radar is typically displayed by overlaying a dimensional map with a radar screen. Similarly, television stations typically display satellite photographic image with a country or state outline. A sequence of photographic or radar images can be shown sequentially to provide weather animation. Relative to the complexity of present day weather collection techniques and the great volume of weather-related information now available, these display techniques are rather simplistic.
One advance in this technology is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,379,215 ("the '215 patent"), which is hereby incorporated by reference. The '215 patent discloses a weather visualization system in which the weather is visualized in a three-dimensional manner, with a third-person viewpoint such that the system generates weather-related images to provide a "fly by" animation. The '215 patent does not disclose any other weather visualization systems.